


The Gamer Job

by SharaRaizel



Series: Leverage Incorporated [1]
Category: Leverage, Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Thieves, Fluff and Crack, Friendship, Gen, Leverage-verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-11
Updated: 2014-12-11
Packaged: 2018-02-28 23:38:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2751443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SharaRaizel/pseuds/SharaRaizel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A desperate businessman asks Saguru Hakuba – an insurance investigator who once specialized in recovering stolen goods worth millions – to lead a team of expert thieves to recover videogame console designs from the rival company that took them. But there's a twist: the designs were never the man's to begin with. Now, the honest man he hired must convince the band of criminals to do the right thing... steal the plans back. </p>
<p>Follow Saguru Hakuba as he fills the role of Criminal Mastermind to lead a team comprised of Grifter - Shinichi Kudo, Hitter - Heiji Hattori, Thief - Kaitou Kid, and Hacker - Shiho Miyano, to pick up where the law leaves off.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meet the Team

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is basically the first episode of Leverage cast with Gosho Aoyama's five Teenage Geniuses: Hakuba Saguru, Shinichi Kudo, Hattori Heiji, Kaito Kuroba, and Shiho Miyano. A lot of the situation and dialogue has been taken straight from Leverage's pilot episode: The Nigerian Job, but I have added and changed things around to better suit the characters, so that this isn't a complete rip off, especially since Shiho Miyano is very different from Alec Harrdison and Heiji Hattori isn't like Eliot Spencer either. So a lot of Harrdison and Eliot's lines, and some of Parker's have been flipped and traded between and around Heiji, Shiho and Kaito because they didn't quite fit the DCMK character I cast in their role in this fic. There are also a number of Easter eggs scattered throughout the fic. See if you can spot them all. ;) Enjoy!
> 
> Warnings for foul language (Particularly use of the F-word)

LOCATION: The Blue Parrot Bar

Saguru Hakuba was seated in a booth in the far back corner at a local bar in Ekoda Prefecture, Tokyo. He was in Japan having a rough week visiting old work buddies of his who wanted to do nothing but nag on him about his problems. If he had wanted to receive lectures on alcoholism, he would have stayed in London with his ex-wife. Everyone believed that he had a drinking problem. His so-called friends in Japan hadn’t been any different from those he had in Europe. He was drowning himself in booze, they all said, instead of properly grieving. Well, fuck them. Saguru was doing just fine. This time tomorrow he’d be on a flight halfway to Los Angeles. Maybe the warmer climate and a country where nobody knew him would help. He could go on a road trip across America to New York, see the sights, pick up the odd job or two or something.

He was on his fourth shot of Irish whiskey when a man in a suit approached with a briefcase. The man took the bench opposite him and began to ramble nervously.

“I’m sorry, Hakuba-san, I know who you are. I’ve, uh, excuse me. I’m an acquaintance of your friend, Momoi-san. We’ve had some business dealings together in the past through our respective companies and she said that I could probably find you here. I’ve heard and read all about you. I know, for example, that-that when you found that stolen Degas painting in Paris you probably saved your Insurance Company, what? 20-25 million US dollars? Then there was that identity theft thing and you saved your insurance company I don’t even know how many millions of dollars but I just know that when you needed them… What happened to your family-”

Saguru had heard enough of the man’s rambling. He slammed his shot-glass of whiskey down on the table, spilling some of the amber liquid.

“You know that part of the conversation where I punch you in the neck nine or ten times? We’re coming up on that pretty quick,” his said with a glare.

“I just want to offer you a job,” the man said weakly.

Saguru leaned back in his seat and examined the man in front of him. He looked like the stereotypical Japanese businessman; nice suit, shortly cropped black hair, small dark-brown eyes that looked black in the dim lighting of the bar, and no remarkable features. He was someone you wouldn’t look twice at if you passed him in the street. He was fidgeting in his seat, however, with sweat beading on his brow.

“…What do you have?” Saguru sighed, gesturing for the man to continue. It couldn’t hurt to hear what he had to offer, especially if Keiko Momoi had sent him.

“Do you know anything about the videogame industry?”

“I know a bit about the business. Why?”

“Somebody stole my new game console designs.”

“And you, what? Want me to find them for you?”

“No. I know where they are,” the man scowled. “What I want is for you to steal them back.”

“Excuse me?” Saguru said, reeling back in surprise.

“Please, just-just hear me out, Hakuba-san. _Please_. I have been working on this project for the last five _years_ and-and now they’re gone and Niindento is presenting a new project of the _same_ design.”

“Ok,” Saguru sighed, holding up a hand to stop the man’s babbling. “Go back to the beginning. Your name would be a good start.”

“Apologies!” the man cried, bowing his head. “My name is Takahashi Toubi. I’m head of the gaming technologies division at Microtech’s Tokyo offices. My programmers and I have been working on a new gaming console for release this fall, but in the past week all of our plans, all of the designs were wiped from the drives. All that work – Poof! Gone! Missing, along with one of my head programmers.”

“You’re sure that it was someone from Niindento that stole your designs?” Saguru asked, tapping the side of his glass in contemplation. It sounded a little far-fetched. Niindento was the world’s most profitable and successful gaming company in the world. Why would they need to steal software and designs from Microtech?

“Look,” Takahashi sighed, “One of my head programmers goes missing and with him all of my project’s files, and then one week later Niindento announces an identical project? Come on. Why would I lie about this?”

The man looked like he was about to start crying he looked so desperate.

“I don’t know,” Saguru sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Stealing the designs back… It seems like a stupid risk. There are other ways…”

“Listen! Listen to me. At the end of this month I have a shareholder’s meeting, Hakuba-san. I’ve spent, already, five years, 100 million yen on R&D. If I go to that meeting with nothing to show for it? Then I. Am. _Dead_.” Takahashi put his briefcase on the table and opened it, taking out a folder and handed it to Saguru. “I’m serious. Look! Look at the people I’ve already hired. Do you recognize any of these names?”

“I do,” Saguru admitted as he examined the three profiles inside the folder. “I’ve chased all of them at one time or anoth- …Kid. You have the _Kaitou Kid_?”

“Is there somebody better?” Takahashi asked.

“No, but the Kid is insane.” Saguru looked up in disbelief at the businessman.

“Which is why I need you,” Takahashi insisted.

Saguru chuckled, shaking his head. “No. I’m not a thief.”

“Thieves, I got,” Takahashi sighed, looking Saguru dead in the eye. “What I need is one honest man to watch them. Are you in?”

Saguru was silent, looking down at the photos and profile information, contemplating the job. He could see Takahashi’s dilemma and he felt for the guy. He really did. But something was still niggling at him. Something was off about this whole thing and these three notorious thieves were part of it.

“It’s not going to work,” he said after a while. “These people you’ve hired, they all have the same reputation. They work alone. They’ve always worked alone. There have been no exceptions. There’s no way they’re going to work together for you.”

“No, they will,” Takahashi insisted. “They will. For ¥3,000,000 each, they will. And for you, for running it, it’s double that. And-and it’s off the books – completely off the books. Look at me. I’m desperate here. And that’s just the salary. There is a bonus. Niindento is insured by a branch of U.N.I.S – your old bosses. It’s a ¥5,000,000,000 Intellectual-Property-Rights policy. Hakuba-san, how badly do you want to screw the insurance company that let your daughter die?”

Saguru’s expression shut down, eyes narrowing, as he took a sip from his whiskey through pursed lips. It was tempting.

 

 

Two Nights Later

LOCATION: Outside across the street from Niindento HQ

Saguru stood underneath the Tokyo Transit bus stop cover structure, waiting, decked out in a black turtleneck sweater, long coat and slacks. He checked his pocket watch – an heirloom from his grandfather. It was nearly time. The rest of his… team… would be there soon.

A minute later a pedestrian in black jeans and a hoodie joined him under the structure. His hands were stuffed in his pockets and the hood hid his face. The man went over and stood opposite Saguru, leaning against a support post. One.

Three minutes later a bus pulled up and a few of passengers got off, most heading towards the parking garage down the block, but one – a woman – wearing black sweat pants, tank-top, and one of those clinging workout jackets remained behind, occupied with her phone and shouldering a duffel bag looking like she’s just spent an afternoon at a gym. Two.

Two minutes later another woman showed up with a large suitcase in tow. She was wearing all black as well: slacks, blouse, and an unzipped windbreaker with its hood pulled over her head. Three.

At a quarter-till, their watches beeped and the thieves all looked/glanced at Saguru in unison. He regarded them each with a level gaze and then nodded. The hoodie guy approached the woman with the suitcase and offered to carry it for her, his voice deep with a hint of an Osakan Accent. The woman beamed, thanking him as he hefted her suitcase as if it was a light school bag and they crossed the street together. The other woman was still looking down at her phone, but followed the other two at a distance. Saguru waited another minute before heading in the opposite direction and inside the office building across the street from Niindento HQ that was currently undergoing some serious renovation work.

Once he got to the right floor he found an office that gave him a perfect vantage point of the front of Niindento HQ. He opened his bags and began to set up shop. He pulled out his laptops, hooked up a projector and projected the blueprints for the Niindento building on a wall, and ran through the plan in his head one more time. It was too late to turn back now. He was committed. Taking a deep breath he put on his headset.

“Okay, clear comms.”

Across the street on Niindento HQ’s Rooftop the woman in the workout attire was examining the headset she’d been issued for the job.

“Are you kidding me?” she scoffed. “Where’d you get this equipment? The 90’s? I’ve got something much nicer.”

“No surprises now,” Saguru said with a sigh.

The woman rolled her eyes. Her name was Shiho Miyano, and was wanted for internet and computer fraud. If you wanted the best hacker in the business, she was the woman to go to.

“I’ve been doing this since high school, Tantei-san. Headsets like this are a joke to me. I’ve got some real hardware.”

She pulled out a case with ear buds inside, handing it to the guy in the hoodie. “These are bone-conduction earpiece mics. They work off the vibrations in your jaw. You can hear everything.”

“Sweet,” the man grinned, sliding one into his ear. “Pretty _and_ smart.”

Shiho narrowed her eyes at him. “Too bad I can’t say the same for you. I don’t even know what you do.”

The man glared. His name was Heiji Hattori and he had a pretty diverse resume, having done everything from hit man to bodyguard. These days though, he had a reputation for being a skilled retrieval specialist.

The third and final member of their little party had been busy unloading the rig and scaling equipment from her suitcase. She flipped, hanging upside-down from the scaffolding between Shiho and Heiji.

“Can I have one?” She asked.

“You can have tha whole box,” Hattori grinned, holding the case up so that she could take a mic for herself.

“You do know that she’s a he, right?” Shiho asked.

Heiji blinked in surprise, head snapping up to take a better look at the lithe figure humming happily to her…him…them-self.

“…Are ya sure?” Heiji asked warily.

“I suppose you’ll just have to figure it out for yourself,” Shiho shrugged. “That’s the Kaitou Kid. No one knows for sure who the Kid really is.”

The woman-who-was-actually-a-man ignored his companions, checking his rig and lines for any kinks. He was known at large as the Kaitou Kid, wanted to security circum… infiltration and alter… being a thief. And a damn good one too, with a fondness for jewels and gems and other sparkly and shiny things. And, like Shiho had said, no one knew who he really was. It was so much fun messing with everyone. It kept things interesting.

“Last time I used this rig was in Paris, five years ago,” Kid sighed, stroking his gear lovingly.

“ _Are you talking about the Caravaggio? Did you steal that?_ ” Saguru asked disapprovingly. Shiho had just finished synching her earpiece mics with the older headset tech that Saguru was using so that he could hear them.

The three thieves ignored the inquiry.

Saguru sighed back in the deserted office. Thieves. Why was he doing this again? Oh, right. For Takahashi and to get back at his old bosses. “ _Alright you guys, listen up. We’re going to go on my count, not a second sooner. Kid, no freelancing._ ”

“Relax,” Shiho sighed. “We know what we’re doing.”

“ _And on the count of five!_ ” Saguru continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “ _Five, four-_ ”

“Oh, he doesn’t want to be our pal,” Heiji snickered. “Ya see? This is what happens when ya get a straight guy ta do a crook’s job.”

“ _We’re on the count_ ,” Saguru snapped. “ _In five, four, three_ -”

Kid rolled his eyes and ran for the edge of the rooftop.

“Kid’s gone,” Shiho reported.

“ _Son of a bitch_ ,” Saguru swore under his breath.

Kid dived off the roof, unable to resist a “Ya Hoo!” as he jumped, his feet leaving solid turf and the open air awaiting him.

Shiho and Heiji rushed over to the edge, watching as Kid fell. Saguru followed Kid’s decent from his vantage point with a pair of binoculars.

“That idiot. If he blows this job, I’ll kill him,” Shiho scowled. “This is precisely why I work alone.”

Kid had stopped now, and was hanging upside down peering into the window in front of him at the target floor.

“Vibration detectors are on,” Kid reported.

“ _No cutting, Kid, use the binary_ ,” Saguru told him.

Kid snorted. No duh. He wasn’t an amateur. But he’d let Tantei-san spout his orders. Whether or not Kid chose to follow them was a different matter. He pulled out a tube of gel, squeezing out a line of it in a circle, watching it eat through the glass. When he was finished, he slipped the tub back into the gadget holster he was wearing and pulled out a suction cup, sealed it to the circle of glass, and pulled it away. Not really knowing what to do with it now that it was out, Kid shrugged and carelessly tossed it aside, letting it drop to the ground. Now he had an entrance. With a wild grin, Kid reached into the hole he’d just made in the window and climbed in without touch the glass and setting off their vibration detectors, hitting a switch that released his repelling line. Using his forward momentum Kid flipped off the desk he’d been using as an anchor to enter the room with the flourish of an Olympic gymnast. He even faced the window and bowed to his audience.

In the building across the street Saguru rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he watched the thief’s shenanigans.

Back up on the roof, Shiho and Heiji had grabbed their supplies and opened a hatch, entering the building and an elevator shaft, standing on top of a locked down elevator and waited for Kid. While they were doing that Kid had found the electrical room and hooked a few mini-screens into the system and crossed a few wires.

Heiji was getting impatient.

“You know, Kid, anytime you wanna- Whoa!”

The elevator gave a jolt and began to descend rapidly beneath them. Shiho had barely filched. She’d been waiting for it, and smirked when her companion was caught off guard. Heiji, meanwhile, was swearing under his breath.

“They’re on their way,” Kid chirped, watching the elevator’s progress on a monitor.

“ _What are you getting with security?_ ” Saguru asked. “ _Do you see security?_ ”

Kid smirked, tapping a few more keys and eyed the screen monitoring the security room. “They don’t see a thing.” When the elevator Shiho and Heiji were riding on arrived at the right floor, Kid hit a few keys on the mini console. “Doors are open.”

“ _All right guys_ ,” Saguru sighed. “ _It’s show time. Here we go_.”

Heiji and Shiho dropped down into the elevator compartment and headed quickly out of the open doors. When they reached the server room, Shiho whipped out a device that had a keycard attached to the end of it with a thick line of wires. She fed the card into the card slot in the door to the server room and ran the device, waiting for it to spit out the key code and unlock the door.

“A ten digit password. Not bad,” she mused, watching the numbers tick and flash on her device.

Back in the building across from the heist site, Saguru narrowed his eyes while he watched the security room feed that Kid had hacked into from the electrical room. “Kid, do you have any chatter on their frequencies?” he asked.

“No.” Kid frowned. “Why?”

Saguru checked the records in front of him. “There are eight listed on the duty roster, but there are only four guards at the post.”

“I can’t even tell how many guys are in the room. How can you tell who’s who?”

“ _Haircuts, Kid. Count the haircuts._ ”

“…I would have missed that,” Kid scowled, trying to find their wayward guards on the other monitors.

“ _What?_ ”

“Nothing~!” Kid chirped.

“Problem?” Heiji asked, having been listening to the chatter over the comm. line.

“ _Maybe_ ,” Saguru admitted. “ _Kid, run the cameras_.”

“What do you think I’m doing?” Kid grumbled under his breath. Stupid. He’d made such an idiotic amateur mistake. Kudos to Hakuba for catching that, though. The former investigator wasn’t so bad after all. “Got ‘em! Wait, they’re doing their walk-through and hour early. Why the fuck are they patrolling an hour early?!”

“ _Because it’s the playoffs_ ,” Saguru informed them with a sigh.

Kid squinted, zooming in on a screen in the security room airing a football game, and cursed.

“ _Yeah, it’s the last game in the playoffs tonight, so they’re doing their rounds an hour early so they can watch the playoffs. Where are they, Kid?_ ”

“They’re at the stairwell,” Kid reported, worry creeping into his tone. He watched helplessly as the guards arrived on the floor where Heiji and Shiho were trying to break into the server room and noticed the open elevator doors. The guards pulled out their firearms and started hurrying down the hall.

“ _Okay, guys here’s what we are going to do. Kid, have to squelch them_ ,” Saguru said.

“On it!” Kid hit a few keys on his laptop and sent a high pitched sound that jammed and interfered with the guard’s comm. frequencies, sighing in relief when the guards on screen jerked their devices away from their ears, stowing them away, while the remaining guards in the surveillance room turned down their “malfunctioning” radio and remained unaware of the situation.

“ _Hattori, what I want you to do is clear the zone and use Miyano-san as bait_ ,” Saguru ordered.

“Got it,” Heiji smirked, taking off his jacket and rolled his shoulders in anticipation, strolling away.

“Excuse me?!” Shiho shrieked, glaring at Heiji’s retreating back. “I am not going to be used as bait.” She glared at the device in her hands, willing it to finish decoding the remaining five digits.

“Miyano-chan, they’re almost there,” Kid reported, watching as the guards approached the final corner that would bring the hacker into their sights.

“Come on,” Shiho hissed. “Come on, come on, come on… You know what? Forget it. Fuck you guys.” She let the device hang from the door and turned to leave, but found herself staring down the four patrolling security guards and their guns which were drawn and pointed right at her.

“Hold it right there. Hands up and drop the bag!” a guard ordered.

With a sigh Shiho raised her hands up over her head, raising an eyebrow as Heiji nonchalantly walked up behind the four guards. She dropped her bag and in the short time it took for the bag to drop to the floor, Heiji had managed to disarm and knock out all four security guards, taking them by surprise.

With a satisfied smirk Heiji emptied the clip of a gun he’d confiscated from one of the guards and tossed it over his shoulder. “ _That’s_ what I do,” he told her smugly.

Shiho raised her other eyebrow, impressed, turning back around to the door to the server room when she heard the sound of the lock clicking open. Typical. _Now_ her device had managed to hack the key-code.

“Guys, you have to talk to me, okay? Because I don’t know what’s going on,” Saguru sighed after things had been quiet for a while, and quiet made him nervous since he didn’t have eyes on the situation except for whatever security feed Kid was sending him. He was pacing a bit, just wanting this job to be over with.

Heiji had just finished tying up the unconscious security guards when Shiho finished her work on the main server’s terminal.

“Cool your jets, Tantei-san,” she said, removing her USB cord link from the terminal. “Everything’s fine. I just finished stripping the drives. I have all of the designs and all the backups. We’re leaving this place bare.”

“ _Good. Now drop the spike_ ,” Saguru ordered.

Shiho smiled with satisfaction as she left the server room with Heiji, the system’s lights flashing and going out as they retreated.

“Did you give them a virus?” Heiji asked.

“Oh, I gave them more than one virus,” she told him with an evil glint in her eye.

“Guys, we have a problem,” Kid reported, scowling at his monitors. “Those guards Hattori ganked? They reset all of the alarms on the roof and all the floors above us. We can’t go up.”

“Shit,” Heiji groaned. “Every man for himself, then.”

“Oh sure, go ahead,” Shiho sneered after him. “I’m the one with the merchandise.”

“Yeah? Well I’m the one with an exit!” Kid snapped.

“ _And I’m the one with a plan_ ,” Saguru said sternly, voice the very essence of one in command and one that demanded he be listened to. “ _Now I know you children don’t play well with others, but I need you to hold it together for exactly seven more minutes. Now get to the elevator and head down. We’re going to the Burn Scam. Kid, I assume you have the necessary equipment?_ ”

“Of course!” Kid trilled, cackling gleefully as he left the electric room to rejoin the other two.

Heiji and Shiho traded a worried glance before nodding and reentered the elevator, backs to each other as they quickly changed their attire from their blackout clothes to the business suits in their packs. They were professionals. They always had back up wear in case they needed it in events such as this.

“So we’re going to Plan B?” Heiji muttered as he began buttoning up his dress shirt.

“Technically that would be Plan G.” Saguru quipped, putting away the last of his equipment in the empty under-renovation office.

The elevator doors opened again a few more floors down and Kid hurried in. The thief was already partially dressed as another woman.

“And just how many plans do we have? Is there a Plan M?” Heiji asked.

“Yeah,” Saguru huffed, making his way out of the building and to his car. “Hattori-san dies in Plan M.”

“I like Plan M,” Shiho smiled, ignoring the glare Heiji shot her from over his shoulder.

Kid only snickered. Yeah, Hakuba wasn’t too bad after all. While Heiji and Shiho bickered, Kid looked at himself – or, rather, _herself_ – in the elevator’s mirror as he applied the burn make-up. When that was done she quickly pulled out a leg brace and a cane. When the elevator ding-ed, announcing their arrival on the main floor, Kid took in a deep breath and fell into character, Heiji coming up to her side and aiding her out into the lobby. Shiho followed them, looking very smart and professional in her dress-suit.

Kid wanted to laugh at the confused guard’s expression, hand hovering at his waist and pulling his suit jacket forward to cover the firearm concealed there. He stared, dumbfounded, watching them as they moved towards the exit. Guy looked so young he was probably fresh out of school.

“Nice,” Shiho snapped, placing a hand on Kid’s back. “Why don’t you stare a little more?”

“Sorry!” the poor guard squeaked as he was subjected to Shiho’s glare.

“You have to be kidding me!” Shiho said.

“No, Satsuki-san, it’s okay,” Kid whimpered, shuffling forward.

“No, it’s not,” Heiji disagreed with a scowl, gingerly helping Kid along.

“Sorry, sorry,” cried the guard as he hurried up to them.

Kid suppressed a laugh, masking it as a sob. “I understand.”

Outside, Saguru pulled up in his car up to the curb and waited, shaking his head as he watched the three thieves through the glass doors.

“I’m sorry,” the guard kept saying.

“Get the door, come on!” Shiho ordered, and the guard was only too happy to oblige, still muttering apologies as they left the building.

As soon as they were near the car and far enough away from the retreating guard Kid dropped the act, straightening, and tossed the cane to Heiji who caught it and shuffled in after her…him…Kid into the backseat while Shiho claimed shotgun. As soon as they were all in Saguru pulled away from the curb and drove them far away from Niindento HQ.

At a park on the other side of Tokyo, they all stood around Shiho while she worked on a laptop.

“Come on, come on, come on!” Kid pouted. “It’s only taking all night. Come on!”

“Oh, stuff it,” Shiho scowled. “I have a couple of Wi-Fi networks with some shitty bandwidth.” A couple minutes later her features smoothed out and she gave a satisfied nod. “There. The designs are sent.”

“All right,” Saguru nodded, relieved. “The money will be in all of your accounts later today.

“Sweet,” Heiji grinned. “Hey, did anybody else notice how kick-ass we all were last night?”

“Yeah, well, one show only,” Shiho said stiffly. “I don’t do encores.”

“I already forgot your names,” Kid yawned, but then paused and grinned over at Saguru. “It was kind of cool, though, being on the same side.”

“No,” Saguru said, “we are not on the same side. I am not a thief.”

“You are now,” Kid grinned. “Come on, Hakuba, tell the truth. Didn’t you have a little bit of fun playing the Black King instead of the White Knight, just this once?”

Saguru frowned at Kid before shaking his head (in denial most would say) and left without a backwards glance. The other three traded amused looks before leaving as well. The job was finished.


	2. Screwed

LOCATION: Saguru Hakuba’s Hotel Room

Saguru was sleeping in bed still wearing his black turtleneck sweater and slacks when his phone rang later that morning. With a groan, Saguru fumbled for his cellphone on the nightstand, knocking over a couple of little empty glass bottles that used to contain some kind of alcoholic beverage from the room’s mini-bar. He blearily checked the caller ID, surprised to see that it was from Takahashi.

“Yeah?” Saguru answered, sounding more awake than he was.

“ _You screwed me!_ ” the businessman yelled, forcing Saguru to pull the receiver away at arm’s length. His ears rang and he groaned softly, trying to shake his head to clear it, but that only made the room spin.

“ _The designs never got to me_ ,” Takahashi was still yelling over the line.

“No, I watched them go out,” Saguru insisted as he sat up, willing the room to stop moving. He was too tired for this shit.

“ _I don’t know what you saw, but I received nothing!_ ”

“Look,” Saguru sighed. “I told you, you couldn’t trust them.”

“ _It is not my job to trust anybody. That is what you were here for. I am freezing the payments. I am freezing all the payments!_ ”

“All right, look,” Saguru said as he got to his feet. “I will come over there right now and we’ll straighten this out.”

“ _No!_ ” gasped Takahashi, sounding fearful. “ _No, no, no, do not come here. Listen, my company has an old distributing warehouse on the other side of the city. I will text you the address and you be there in one hour_.” The line clicked, informing him that the businessman had hung up.

Saguru sighed, running a hand through his hair and down his face. He’d known he’d regret taking this job. Nothing ever went well when you worked in collaboration with a well-known thief, let alone three. He should have walked away the moment he knew who else would be involved, but damn the alcohol he’d been drinking that night for clouding his judgment and curse his own personal desire to get back at U.N.I.S., even if it had only been with a small branch of the insurance company. With another sigh Saguru quickly freshened up and changed into clean clothes before grabbing his jacket and left for the warehouse.

 

LOCATION: Old Microtech Distribution Warehouse

Saguru entered the warehouse, making his way past the old abandoned offices and towards the main room where he could hear two voices arguing. He found Shiho Miyano glaring, holding a gun at Heiji Hattori.

“You mind telling me what happened to the designs?” she demanded.

“What makes ya think I know what happened?” Heiji snarled.

“It had to have been either you or Kid when we were coming down from the elevator,” she reasoned.

“Yeah?” Heiji scoffed. “Well that makes a lotta sense, now don’t it? Seeing as you had tha file every second.”

“Hold up, Hattori, I did my part. I transferred the files.”

“Ya better get that gun outta my face-!”

“What did you do?”

“-or else I’m gonna feed it to ya, woman or not!”

“Hey!” Saguru shouted to get their attention.

They both turned, Shiho turning her gun on him.

“Did ya do it?” Heiji demanded. “Yer tha only one that’s ever played both sides.”

Shiho pointed the gun back at Heiji, but kept Saguru in her sights.

“Yeah,” Saguru scoffed as he came up to them. “And you seem pretty relaxed for a guy with a gun pointed at him.”

Heiji sighed, glancing at Shiho. “Safety’s on.”

“Like I’m going to fall for that,” Shiho scowled.

“No,” Saguru said, “no, actually he’s right. The safety is on.”

With a frown Shiho glanced at her gun only for Saguru to grab it out of her hands and click the safety on for real. “Are you armed?” he asked Heiji.

Heiji shook his head. “I don’t like guns.” He looked pointedly past Saguru’s shoulder. Saguru whirled around, clicking the safety back off and pointed the gun at Kid who was holding a gun of his own at them. This time Kid was dressed as a man in a white tee, black jeans, and white and blue converse sneakers. He had short spiky hair sticking out in messy tangles, looking for all the world like some college kid who had just rolled out of bed. Saguru was willing to bet that this was what Kid really looked like.

“My money’s not in my account,” Kid growled, raising his gun casually, nozzle pointed up towards the ceiling when Saguru lowered the one he’d grabbed from Shiho. Kid may play around with firearms, but the guy hardly ever used them. He was insane and a thief, but not a murderer. “That makes me cry inside my special, angry place.” Yeah… Really mental, that one.

“Okay, Kid,” Saguru said slowly, maintaining eye contact as he reached forward and carefully lowered thief’s gun, relieved to find that the safety was already on, but not daring to take it away like he’d done with Shiho’s. Kid was known for being unstable and might see such a move as aggressive and turn on them. “Now, did you all come here to get paid?” he asked.

“No,” Shiho said sarcastically. “I’m here to transfer funds. Global economy and all that bull shit.”

“This was supposed ta be a walk away,” Heiji said angrily. “I’m never supposed ta see you guys again.”

“Then the only reason you guys are here is because you didn’t get paid… and you’re pissed off.” Saguru couldn’t hold back the laugh in spite of the others’ glares. “As a matter of fact, the only way to get all of us in the same place at the same time…” Oh fuck. “Is to tell us… that we’re not… getting… paid.”

The realization had hit the other three as well and they all shared panicked looks, making a break for the nearest exit, with Saguru in the lead. The whole thing had been a trap. The nearest exit was a garage door and Saguru got there first, slamming his hand on the button to open it, directing them all out. Shiho tripped when one of her heels caught on the old steps and would have fallen flat on her face if Heiji hadn’t been right behind her and set her back on her feet.

“Come on, come on, come on! Let’s go! Hustle! Go!” Saguru shouted, just as Kid dashed past him ducking under and out of the still rising door. Shiho and Heiji were right behind him. Once they were all out, Saguru moved to follow them when a blast wave hit him from behind and the inside of the building exploded, throwing all four of them to the ground and knocking them out cold.

 

LOCATION: Ekoda General Hospital

Saguru groaned as he came to. His head was killing him and there was a ringing in his ears and… there was this smell… the smell of antiseptic… the smell of a hospital room. He gasped, eyes flying open and he sat up quickly, but the movement was inhibited when something attached to his left wrist held him back. He was handcuffed to a hospital bed. Looking up he saw Heiji handcuffed to a chair. The retrieval specialist looked all right apart from a small cut on his forehead, some mild scrapes and bruising, and a thin layer of rubble dust that coated his clothes and skin.

“Ya don’t like hospitals,” Heiji observed.

“Not much,” Saguru sighed, looking around their room.

He jumped with he heard Kid’s voice come from the small vent over his bed. “It’s about time!”

“What?” Saguru asked, confused.

Next-door in another hospital room Kid was pacing, playing with the handcuffs that were supposed to be restraining him to his hospital bed. With him, Shiho was still handcuffed to her bed, glaring at the thief. She gestured to her own shackles, but Kid only spared her a side glance and continued to ignore her in favor of his nervous pacing. He’d gone into the warehouse lightly equipped to begin with, but he’d been thoroughly searched (probably because of that stupid gun he’d had in his possession) and all of his equipment had been confiscated, so the entire situation was making him antsy.

“The cops and firemen got there just as we were waking up,” he told Saguru.

“Where are we?” Saguru asked.

“Ekoda Ward’s General Hospital,” Heiji said. “Local cops responded ta tha explosion.”

“Have we been processed yet?” Saguru asked, groaning when Heiji waved ink-covered fingers at him.

“They faxed our prints ta tha Tokyo Metropolitan Police,” Heiji reported grimly.

“Shit,” Shiho swore. “If they run our prints we’re screwed. We’re all in the system, even you Kid, I’m sure.”

“How long until they get those results?” Kid asked her nervously.

“Thirty, thirty-five minutes depending on the software,” Shiho said grimly, glaring up at their room’s clock.

“They printed us twenty minutes ago,” Heiji groaned. “So unless we get out of here in tha next ten minutes we all go ta jail. Except fer you, Hakuba. They’ll just kick yer ass back ta Jolly Old England and let tha Yard deal with ya.”

“Yeah, all right,” Saguru sighed, mind reeling and trying to come up with a solution. He did not want to go to jail or be deported. That was not how he’d been planning to leave Japan.

“I can take these cops,” Heiji offered.

“Don’t you dare,” Kid growled. “You kill anyone you screw up my getaway.”

“Just wait a moment!” Shiho said, “I’m still handcuffed here!”

“Kid! Get me a phone!” Saguru spoke up before they could start arguing. “What we’re going to do is get out of here together.” Because Takahashi hadn’t just used Saguru. He’d used the other three as well and had tried to kill them all to cover up his scheme. And even though Heiji Hattori, Shiho Miyano and the Kaitou Kid were criminals, they didn’t deserve to be killed. Saguru was going to need them as much as they needed him to get out of this mess.

“This was a one-time deal,” Heiji grumbled.

“Look, guys, here’s your problem. You all know what you can do. I know what _all_ of you can do, so that gives me the edge, gives me the plan,” Saguru reasoned, knowing he was right. Knowledge of each other’s reputation could only get them so far, and that was all that they had on each other right now. None of them had ever teamed up with or faced one of the others before now, unlike Saguru who had chased them all at one time or another for a living when he was an investigator.

Kid sighed, leaning back against the wall connecting their two rooms. “I don’t trust these guys.” Especially the woman. She was scary.

“Do you trust me?” Saguru asked.

It was quiet in both rooms for a moment. Then Heiji sighed, a smile quirking the corners of his lips. “Of course,” he said. “Yer an honest man.”

Saguru was quiet for another moment, taking that in. An honest man… What kind of honest man worked with thieves? Conflicted, but knowing that they all wanted – _needed_ – to get out, Saguru put aside his unease and let the plan come forth.

“Kid, phone,” he demanded.

Kid smirked, but then grimaced for what he was about to do.

“This is gonna suck,” he groaned before sticking his fingers down his throat to trigger his gag reflex.

“For the love of-!” Shiho recoiled on her bed, nose wrinkled in disgust as Kid vomited all over the floor.

A few minutes later Kid was lying down handcuffed to his hospital bed again while the doctor took his temperature.

“Nausea could mean a concussion,” the doctor mused, while the nurse took notes. “If you feel any more effects or blurred vision, tell the officer outside your door right away.”

Kid nodded pitifully, smiling weakly as the doctor and the nurse left the room. The police officer checked Kid’s cuffs one more time before leaving as well to stand guard outside in the hall. Once the door was closed, Kid sat up and both he and Shiho held up a phone each; Kid’s lifted from the doctor, and Shiho’s from the nurse when she’d stood too close. After a quick glance, Kid noted that the doctor’s was a Smartphone while the nurse’s was a regular old flip phone, which was probably of more use to Hakuba than the one with all the gadgets, which was best left with the techno genius. With a nod Kid and Shiho traded phones. When that exchange was done Kid smirked and held up a set of keys he’d lifted off the guard, making a show that he was already back out of his cuffs.

“Hey!” Shiho snapped softly, making a “gimme” gesture. Kid snickered as he tossed her the keys and then got up on his bed to slip the flip-phone through the vent into the next room. “Tantei-san.”

Saguru got up on his bed and retrieved the phone Kid passed to him.

“Got it,” he said before turning to Heiji, tossing the phone to him. “So the trick is to give them what they want. They’re expecting a phone call, right? So call them.”

After Saguru explained the plan to them, Heiji dialed the number for their hospital, while Shiho used the Smartphone to create a quick “classified” document that she would send to the hospital’s fax machine were a local officer would, no doubt, be waiting in case anything came in from the TMP.

Heiji cleared his throat, waiting nervously as his call was put on hold so that the secretary at the desk could get the police officer in charge of them at the hospital.

“ _This is Manabí-keiji_ ,” a voice soon answered.

“This is Toyama-keibu with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police,” Heiji said in his best official tone. “We got those prints that you sent us. The problem I have is that they’re sending up red flags all over the place and I’ve got somebody on the phone from Interpol all the way from London. Can you hold?”

Heiji smirked. He could only imagine the look on the officer’s face as he stammered, “ _Yes, sir_ ,” and waited. Heiji tossed the phone back to Saguru who began to speak Japanese with an exaggerated English accent.

“Hullo? Manabí-keiji? This is Special Agent McAlister from Interpol. Yes, is our man all right?”

“ _Uh, I’m sorry, sir, but I’m afraid I don’t follow_.”

“Keiji, listen to me. The woman that you have there is ours. She’s been in deep cover for over three years now.”

“ _Seriously?_ ” Saguru heard the officer gasp and in the background there was the telltale thumping of racing footsteps.

“That is correct,” Saguru replied. “In fact, you should be receiving a fax any moment now confirming what I am telling you.”

Heiji and Shiho were grinning to themselves and Kid snickered while Saguru began to reel off a story about a crime ring of international thieves to the local police. It was like Christmas had come early for them. Saguru Hakuba, one of the world’s most infamous investigative detectives in the world was working with the very thieves he used to chase and was lying to the police.

“Most of what I’ve told you is classified, you understand,” Saguru said, wrapping up his quick tale. “I need to know that I can trust you. Can I?”

“ _Yes, sir_!” Officer Manabí answered.

Saguru hung up and sat back on his bed. Now all they had to do was wait.

Ten minutes later Saguru and Kid were sitting in a loaned police car, Kid in the back on the passenger’s side and Saguru sitting shotgun. Shiho was escorting Heiji out of the hospital in handcuffs with two of the local cops trailing behind her. As she was guiding Heiji into the back of car next to Kid, she hit his head on the top of the doorframe. Heiji turned his head towards her, growling.

“Opps,” Shiho said innocently. “Just get inside, convict.”

Heiji continued to growl, but complied, ignoring Kid’s snickering. Dude was going to laugh himself to death if he kept giggling at every little thing he found amusing.

“Thank you, Keiji,” Shiho said as she turned to address the officers that had helped her escort her companions out of the hospital. “It’s good to know that the Japanese Police can be relied upon in cases such as this.”

The officers beamed proudly, bowing back when she gave them a respectful bow and got into the car, driving away just in time. In the rearview mirror she could see a nurse come out of the hospital and addressed the officers who now looked confused.

She drove far enough away from the hospital before ditching the police car. Then they all followed her to a nearby train station and to an expensive loft apartment in downtown Tokyo high up on the 28th floor of a high rise.

“Four first class tickets to anywhere but here, coming up,” she said briskly as they all entered the apartment.

“Whose place is this?” Kid asked, whistling in admiration of the nice expensive décor.

“It’s mine,” was all Shiho said as she hurried over to a bank of computers.

“I’m gonna beat Takahashi so bad that even tha people that look like ‘im are gonna bleed,” Heiji growled, pissed off now that they were currently safe from the police.

“You won’t get within 50 meters,” Kid scoffed. “He knows your face. He knows all of your guys’ faces. Maybe even mine.” That last bit made Kid scowl. He’d gone to great lengths to keep his real face hidden and a mystery. Not that it mattered in the grand scheme of things. Kid was great at hiding and changing his appearance, but it was the principle of the thing.

“He tried to kill us,” Heiji said, punching a fist into his other hand’s palm.

“More importantly, he didn’t pay is,” Kid sulked.

Heiji stared at the thief in disbelief. “How is that more important?” he demanded.

“I take that rather personally,” Kid pouted.

“There’s something wrong with you,” Heiji said, staring wearily at Kid.

“Interesting,” Shiho mused. “Listen up you lot! It turns out that Takahashi’s story is 90 percent true. He is one of the main project heads at Microtech’s Tokyo offices, but look at what my little web crawlers found.”

A local Tokyo news report recorded earlier that day showed a Niindento representative speaking to reporters.

“ _We’ve lost research that we’ve been working on for over five years. Our servers have been sabotaged, and we’re going to pursue these perpetrators to the full extent of the law and with all the resources we have at our disposal_.”

“Could be a cover story,” Saguru said, but deep down he knew that wasn’t true. Something had been off about this job from the start and he was only just seeing it now.

“Here’s a log of last night’s rip. Internal timestamps on their project – going back for almost the last six years. They’re way, way down in the code. There’s no reason to fake those,” Shiho sighed.

“So, what? Are ya sayin’ we didn’t steal tha plans back?” Heiji asked. As if he needed another reason to be pissed off at this slimy corporate douche bag.

“No, we were just stealing them,” Kid sighed, glaring out the window.

“Why would Takahashi lie to us?” Shiho asked.

“Because you’re thieves,” Saguru said bluntly, looking over the information on Shiho’s monitors, mind finally fully accepting and comprehending the fact that he’d been played, and began mentally cataloging the information displayed before him. “If he hired you for a straight up crime, you’d know he was a bad guy like you. You’d be suspicious. This way you saw another citizen in over his head and that’s why you didn’t see the double cross coming.”

“Why didn’t you see it coming?” Kid asked.

“Because I’m not a thief,” Saguru said matter-of-factly.

“Ya know what?” Heiji snapped. “Maybe that was tha problem. If ya-!”

“Hey!” Shiho spoke up, cutting off Heiji’s angry tirade. “I got us tickets to London, Rome, Paris, and Istanbul all matching the IDs that you guys gave me.”

“You’re running,” Saguru said as he passed Shiho and made his way over for a closer look at her monitors.

“You got it. Ya got any better ideas?” Heiji demanded.

“Wasn’t talking to you,” Saguru said absently and waved him off, eyes glued to the screen and began talking to Takahashi’s image. “You’re running. Now that was a high-risk play. You’ve got yourself tied down to the stock price like a cinder block, and with a shareholders meeting coming up… We can’t let this guy have any time to cool down.”

Saguru’s mind was whirling with ideas and plans and back up plans to get back at this guy. He couldn’t let Takahashi get away with what he’d done and what he’d tricked Saguru into doing, not to mention the fact that the man had tried to kill them all. And as much as Saguru didn’t want to admit it, he needed these guys. Now if only he could convince them to team up with him just one more time.

“Wait,” Heiji said, looking shocked. “You wanna run a game on this guy? _You_?”

“Well, yes,” Saguru said, turning to face the others, his game face on. “How do you think I got most of my clients’ stolen merchandise back? I mean, this guy is greedy and thinks he’s smart. He’s the best kind of mark.”

“He does think he got rid of us.” Kid grinned.

“We’d have the element of surprise,” Shiho mused.

“Yeah? Well… What’s in it fer me?” Heiji demanded.

“Payback,” Saguru said, “and if it goes right, a lot of money.”

“What’s in it for me?” Kid asked.

“A lot of money,” Saguru smiled. “And if it goes right, payback. Miyano-san?”

Kid cackled, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. Shiho was smiling too for once, with a glint in her eye that wasn’t too different from the Kid’s.

“I was just going to spam his e-mails with virus attachments that would crash his home and office computer systems, but count me in. I want to see this bastard pay,” she said.

“Alright, so we’re all in agreement, but what I want to know, Hakuba, is what’s in it for you?” Heiji asked, suspiciously.

Kid and Shiho also looked over at Saguru, also wondering why someone who had been the definition of lawful and one of the best investigators in the world, would team up with a bunch of thieves and pull a job that could more than likely get him arrested and ruin his reputation just to take down Takahashi.

Saguru was quiet for a moment, looking at all three of them in turn before saying in a soft, but hard voice. “He used my daughter.”

Kid’s mischievous smile dropped a few notches, Shiho nodded, and Heiji looked away feeling a little awkward. They had all heard the rumors and stories surrounding the circumstances behind Saguru’s abrupt retirement from U.N.I.S.

“All right,” Saguru said brightly, dispelling the mood and walked past them all. “Lets go get Kudo.”

Kid, Shiho and Heiji blinked in surprise at the sudden cheer in the other man’s voice and traded confused glances.

“What the hell’s a Kudo?” Heiji asked, the three of them rushing to catch up with their team leader.

“It means to receive honor, glory and acclaim,” Kid said, skipping ahead.

“That’s what _kudos_ are, Kid,” Shiho sighed.

“There is something _seriously_ wrong with that one,” Heiji muttered.

“For once we’re in agreement,” Shiho said, smiling in amusement as Kid did one of his signature instant-disguise-changes from male to female behind a smoke bomb and clung the Saguru’s arm as if they were a couple, prattling about something absurd. It was funny to see Saguru try to pull away a few times, but he eventually gave up and appeared to be resigned to his new companion. Then Shiho’s smile vanished when she realized that Kid was wearing some of her clothes. When had the bastard…? “KID!”


	3. Kudo

LOCATION: Beika Prefecture Community Theater

In the back of the theater Heiji, Shiho, and Kid (still dressed as a woman in the clothes he’d “borrowed” from Shiho) sat with Saguru, wincing and staring in mortification at the theatrical disaster that was happening on stage. A young man that looked to be around their age was reciting some Shakespearean monologue as he auditioned for a musical play. To say he was awful was an understatement. His movements were over the top and his speech was loud and all over the place. When he was asked to sing the three thieves all clamped their hands over their ears. A pair of cats squalling in an alleyway would have sounded more pleasant. Saguru, however, watched the performer intently, a small smile appearing when the director shouted for the man to stop singing – if it could be called that.

“He is _very_ awful,” Heiji cringed, watching the performer bow and leave the stage.

“Is he injured? In the head?” Kid whined, hands still clamped over his ears.

“You have got to be joking, Hakuba-san,” Shiho said, rubbing her forehead where a migraine was forming. “He has got to be the worst actor I have ever seen.”

“This is not his stage,” Saguru smirked, rising from his seat. The other three traded apprehensive and skeptical looks before hurrying after him.

Outside the theater they parked their car at the end of the back alley and waited near the door that performers and stage crews usually used as an exit to avoid the crowds on performance nights. Why Saguru thought this guy would exit the building here instead of at the main entrance was anybody’s guess, but sure enough the horrible actor from the auditions exited the building, his focus on his phone.

“No. I vote no,” Heiji hissed.

“Kid’s right, though,” Saguru said softly. “Takahashi knows us and we need a fresh face. Back at the hospital you guys said you trusted me. If that’s still the case, than trust that I know what I’m doing.”

They traded skeptical looks again, but didn’t comment further. With a nod, Saguru stepped forward a few paces, clapping and gaining the other’s attention.

Shinichi Kudo startled in surprise twice; once at the sudden slow and very sarcastic sounding applause, and again upon recognizing Saguru. He hadn’t seen the half-Brit in over a year. They had attended school together senior year at Cambridge University studying law and criminal justice. After graduation they had been partners for a brief period of time at U.N.I.S. until Shinichi grew bored with living on the straight and narrow path. So when the grifter life and his parents – who’d ran into some trouble on a con – called him back to the life of crime he’d led before university, he left, sparking a bitter and intense rivalry with his former best friend.

“Oh bravo, Kudo,” Saguru smirked. “I think you cracked every window and light fixture on that last note. And your monologue from King Leer was simply divine. You had me believing that you really were mad. I’m about ready to lock you away in a mental institution myself.”

“If it isn’t my only fan,” Shinichi said, equally sarcastic and came closer until he stood only a meter away from Saguru. “I see you’re still a bastard critic, old friend, but you’re wasting your time. I’m a citizen now. Honest. Have been for the last year.”

“I’m not,” Saguru said casually, shrugging with a small grin.

Shinichi blinked in surprise. “You…you’re playing my side now?” He looked past Saguru and noticed the other three, recognizing the hacker, Shiho Miyano, and hitter, Heiji Hattori, but not the other woman. She was fidgety though and Shinichi’s grifter instincts pegged her as a thief. Then he looked back at Saguru and grinned. “I always thought you had it in you.”

“I’m sure,” Saguru sighed, before leveling a serious stare at the other. “So are you in?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t dare miss this,” Shinichi grinned, clapping his hands together, looking so excited and happy, you’d think that the Tokyo Spirits had just won the Emperor’s Cup.

“All right then,” Saguru said, looking satisfied, but feeling a bit uncomfortable and conflicted. He wasn’t supposed to be enjoying this. “Lets, uh, go break the law one more time.”

“One more time?” Shinichi repeated as he followed the group into their car and claimed shotgun. “Just what have you been up to recently, Hakuba?”

 

LOCATION: Shiho’s Loft

Everybody was gathered back at Shiho’s apartment loft, and after a good night’s sleep, everybody was ready and waiting for the debriefing to begin. Kid was still dressed as a woman (in his own clothes this time) when they gathered in the living room, and had been very flirty with Shinichi all morning. Shinichi had been flirting back a bit, so when Heiji got a chance right before the meeting he had taken great delight in informing the grifter that Kid was male. Kid had winked at Shinichi, snickering when he saw the other’s gob-smacked expression. Then he plopped down on the couch between Saguru and Shiho.

While all of that had been going on, Shiho had hooked her laptop computer up to her large flat screen TV and had images of their mark on the display.

“Takahashi Toubi,” Shiho stated once everyone was ready and she’d received the “go-ahead” from Saguru. “One of the main heads and project managers at Microtech’s office here in Tokyo and was put in charge of promotion and product development for new game app and console devices. Rich man, old family ties, attended various prestigious technical colleges in both Japan and the U.S., has degrees in business and engineering, yada, yada.”

“Right,” Saguru said, standing up and taking over. “Now Microtech is more of a general consumer electronics company in comparison to Niindento which is, for the most part, a gaming company. They have the most popular gaming consoles on the market. Microtech tried to get in on the home-gaming console bandwagon with the H-Box after Saga products lost popularity in the 90s, and while it’s successful and popular worldwide, it’s got nothing on the GameStation and Vii systems. They’ve been trying to make more headway in that department, but the public still associates them more with PC computers, games, and office software.”

“Can we use that?” Kid asked.

“Maybe,” Shiho said. “Takahashi is mainly in charge of their commercial gaming business. Games that can be played on a PC or laptop computer are still very popular, especially when one factors in today’s internet capabilities and extension packages, but a lot of gamers still prefer to play on handheld devices and on gaming consoles that are already equipped with those kinds of upgrades and built in internet connections.”

Saguru turned back around to face Shiho. “I know that when you sent Takahashi the designs you weren’t supposed to make any copies.”

“No, I promised. It would have been very wrong to do so,” she said innocently.

“Show me your copies,” Saguru said, not quite smiling, but the skin around his eyes crinkled just a bit in amusement.

Shiho actually chuckled and pulled up the copies on the screen.

“Whoa,” Kid stared, sitting up. “Is that…?”

“These are plans for a series of virtual reality arcade game simulator pods,” Saguru said, examining the plans. “Yeah, gaming companies and programmers in Japan, China, the U.S. and the U.K. have been trying to develop the first fully developed virtual reality simulator game system for years. The first company to accomplish and mass-produce this kind of system for arcade and at-home use would make a fortune in stock and patents. What gamer doesn’t want to interact inside of their favorite games? It’s why the Dance-Dance, Band Hero, and the Vii system were so sensational when they first came out. Games with motion sense and interactive app. technologies are always big because they can engage the player.”

The other four stared at him in surprise.

“You pick up things here and there,” Saguru shrugged.

“You pick up a lot of things,” Shiho said, looking amused.

“You never struck me as the gamer type, Tantei-san,” Kid snickered.

“I’ve dabbled,” Saguru said with another shrug. “You tend to when you have a kid.”

It got quiet for a moment, but Shiho didn’t let it faze her and pulled up photos of Takahashi and a businesswoman.

“Check this out. Takahashi has been pushing to promote the H-Box gaming products so that they sell on the same level as Niindento’s. He’s been going head to head for the last five years with Niindento GameStation’s head product manager, Doumine Rumiko in terms of gaming technology development. Every time they both put out something new, their systems trade back and forth the title for best selling gaming product in Japan. But Niindento’s got the edge, being a Japanese company with a long standing reputation for their quality gaming products, and as a result, Takahashi has had to work harder to promote his American products.”

“So he’s got a rival,” Saguru mused. “He’s got competition and a rival that pisses him off so much that he hired us to steal their gaming designs. This is good.”

“What are you thinking, Hakuba?” Shinichi asked.

“I’m thinking Koreans. Yeah, Koreans will do nicely,” Saguru smirked as he walked away.

The others looked at Shinichi in confusion, hoping for a translation since he seemed to know Saguru better than they did. No such luck.

“Well, he hasn’t changed a bit,” was all Shinichi said, chuckling, and made a few notes in his notebook.

 

One Week Later

LOCATION: Microtech HQ – Takahashi’s Office

Toubi Takahashi was sipping his morning coffee that he got from the machine in the lounge, grimacing at the taste when he got out of the elevator on his floor and passed his secretary’s desk.

“Ah, Sir? Your 9 o’clock is here.”

That made him pause. He didn’t remember seeing a 9 o’clock meeting on his schedule. “My…?” Turning around, he saw a young man in a sharp professional business suit; hair combed back and neat, except for a tiny cowlick that stuck up in the back. The man rose to his feet, pulling out a business card from inside his suit jacket.

“Takahashi-san, I am Kang Ye-jun from K.C.E. Incorporated.”

Takahashi accepted the card and looked back up at Kang who had spoken flawless Japanese, but his accent held a touch of Korean.

 

LOCATION: Shiho’s Loft

Shiho sat down at her bank of computer monitors, pulling up what she needed and began recording the feed from Shinichi’s mic the moment Takahashi had arrived at his office. Saguru was watching the proceedings behind her. Kid and Heiji had already checked in, confirming their positions and waiting for their cue inside Microtech.

“I sure hope Kudo doesn’t blow this,” Shiho frowned.

 

LOCATION: Takahashi’s Office

“Are you with the board or some international gaming commission?” Takahashi asked, leading the way into his office.

“Oh no,” Kang shook his head, following. “Private business consortium. We’re looking to encourage infrastructure development and economic renewal.”

“…I have no idea what that means in Japanese.” Takahashi admitted. “What _does_ it mean?”

“Korean Consumer Electronics Incorporated’s goal is to create jobs, consumer goods and trade in Korea. Keep the graft and the stealing manageable,” Kang elaborated.

“I don’t see how I can help you with that. Sorry,” Takahashi said, shrugging. Just why was this young man here?

 

LOCATION: Shiho’s Loft

“He’s not bad,” Shiho said with some surprise showing in her voice and expression.

“ _This_ is his stage,” Saguru told her. “Kudo Shinichi is the finest actor you’ve ever seen… when he’s breaking the law.”

“Does that mean he can actually sing if it’s for a con?” Shiho asked.

“Ah… No. No, Kudo is genuinely tone deaf,” Saguru sighed, smiling at the chuckles coming from Heiji and Kid over the comm. lines at the news.

“ _Come with me_ ,” Shinichi was saying. “ _Why don’t we go and talk somewhere a little less formal. Get some fresh air, yes?_ ”

“ _What? Uh, no, uh, sir? Look, I… Sir?_ ”

“ _Just come with me. I’ll buy you a coffee that doesn’t taste like it’s been maturing in a vat and then you can hear my business proposal. I promise to let you go in time for your 10 o’clock appointment._ ”

“Ok, that did it. Kudo’s getting him out of the office,” Saguru said, watching the hacked feed from Microtech’s security cameras, as Shinichi lead Takahashi out of the office and into the elevator. Apparently Takahashi couldn’t resist a good cup of coffee. It was a taste he’d acquired when he went to school in America. “Okay… Now, Miyano-san.”

Shiho hit a few keys on her console and the secretary’s computer crashed, the Blue Screen of Death appearing on her screen.

 

LOCATION: Microtech Tokyo HQ Offices

Takahashi’s secretary, Kagome Higurashi looked up at her computer and groaned. She began to frantically hit buttons on her keyboard and the computer, trying to unfreeze her screen. After a few minutes she picked up her phone and put in a call to IT.

Kid was waiting in the interior ducts on Takahashi’s office floor and answered the rerouted call with a phone he had hooked into the wiring. “Hello, IT.”

“Yes, this is Takahashi Toubi’s office secretary. My computer just completely crashed.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Did you try turning it on and off again?” Kid asked.

“Yes, nothing seems to be working.”

“Well I have some good news!” Kid chirped. “We’ve got someone on your floor already. He just finished a job fixing the main printer and is on his way now.”

“Thank you,” Higurashi sighed in relief, hanging up. A minute later a tall dark skinned man entered the office wearing tan slacks, a white button up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, large round-framed glasses, and suspenders.

“Somebody call IT?” Heiji asked with a cheesy grin.

 

LOCATION: Outside Stardollar

Takahashi took a sip from his Stardollar coffee that “Kang” had bought him, enjoying the rich taste and aroma of good import coffee. They were roughly a block away from Microtech Offices. Shinichi led him to a seat at an outdoor table and allowed Takahashi a moment before continuing with the con.

“I represent a group of investors who are looking to start a gaming division in our company.”

“In Seoul?” Takahashi asked.

“ _Okay, Kudo, he’s testing you. You want Daejeon_ ,” Saguru’s voice said over the comms.

“No, we keep away from the main media hubs. We have an office in Seoul, sure, but our main headquarters is in Daejeon,” Kudo told Takahashi. “Better research and development facilities there. They don’t call it “Asia’s Silicon Valley” or the “High Technological City” for nothing, ne?”

“ _Perfect_.”

“I thought most of South Korea’s technological advancements were focused on high speed Internet and putting out the latest and greatest cellphones on the market.”

“Ah, been there, done that. What the consumers want is better product. Better interactive experiences through new and better game technology.”

“Uh huh. I don’t recall saying anything about new gaming technology,” Takahashi said, eyes narrowing. Shinichi had his full and undivided attention.

“Takahashi-san,” Shinichi said, a shark’s smile appearing that was all teeth. “Both you and your head programmer are scheduled to speak at your shareholder’s meeting and the media has been abuzz with news of a revolutionary gaming project.”

“You seem to know a lot more about my business that I do, Kang-san.”

“I’ve done my homework,” Shinichi said, toning his smile down a notch.

 

LOCATION: Takahashi’s Office

Kid made his way through the air vents and stopped above Takahashi’s office. He could hear Heiji talking and flirting with the secretary. He lifted aside a ceiling tile and carefully lowered himself into the office.

Heiji spotted Kid through the glass wall and doors to Takahashi’s office and was quick to direct Higurashi’s attention back to her “crashed” computer. Why did corporate heads insist on having glass and see-through walls?

“Here, let me show you how to reconnect with the network,” he said.

 

LOCATION: Shiho’s Loft

“Shouldn’t I be playing the computer tech?” Shiho asked.

“No,” Saguru sighed. “I want you to actually _be_ the computer tech.”

 

LOCATION: Takahashi’s Office

Kid smirked, hearing the chatter that was going on over his ear mic. He moved behind Takahashi’s desk and turned it on, taking out the flash drive that Shiho had given him earlier and plugged it into the USB port. While the drive was copying all of the files on the computer’s hard drive, Kid poked around the office, planting a couple little techno gadget bugs that Shiho and Saguru wanted installed in the office. He put one in particular under the desk like he’d been asked.

Outside the office with the secretary, Heiji put his hand over Higurashi’s on the mouse and guided her through the reboot process, with Shiho instructing him.

“Voila,” Heiji grinned when the screen returned to normal, revealing a picture of Higurashi and a younger boy grinning in front of a shrine.

Higurashi smiled back, attention drawn to the tech guy’s muscular arms. “You are strong for a computer guy.”

“Why thank you!” Heiji beamed. “I like to work out and try to stay big ‘cause I love dressing up like a Super Saiyan and going to all those anime and gaming conventions, you know. Kaio-ken!”

“Ah!” Higurashi gasped in surprise at the sudden outburst, but laughed.

“Sorry,” Heiji said, ducking his head sheepishly.

“It’s okay,” Higurashi giggled. “My little brother loves that sort of thing so I end up taking him to those kinds of conventions.”

“ _Seriously, Hattori? The geeky nerd otaku stereotype? Not everyone involved with computers and programming is like that! You and I are going to have a serious conversation when you get back,_ ” Shiho’s voice hissed in Heiji’s ear. He held back a wince and continued flirting with the pretty secretary while trying to avoid thinking about a certain small and angry hacker.

Kid snickered as he removed the flash drive from Takahashi’s computer and climbed back up into the ductwork.

 

LOCATION: Outside Stardollar

Takahashi sighed, gazing at the young man before him.

“Kang-san, how does this sound? If we announce a new product then you and your company can order as many as you want.”

“ _Okay, you know what to do_ ,” Saguru’s voice murmured in Shinichi’s ear. “ _Hit him_.”

“We’d also like to manufacture and build the products. More jobs. Less outsourcing to China. Build the game products in Korea, promote them in Korea and sell the rest around the world.”

“Well, that is very ambitious. Do you have the manufacturing facilities to do all of that?”

“Of course! And if not, we can always raise the money to build more if we know for certain we’re going to get the contracts and copyrights for the technology. We could help each other, Takahashi-san.”

“Kang-san,” Takahashi sighed. “I’m really sorry, but I can’t help you.”

 

LOCATION: Shiho’s Loft

Shiho sighed. “Well, it was a nice try, Hakuba.”

“Wait for it,” Saguru smirked. “Let Kudo do what he does best.”

 

LOCATION: Outside Stardollar

“I understand,” Shinichi said, shaking Takahashi’s hand and raising to his feet.

“Sorry, and I really do have-” Takahashi started, but Shinichi cut him off.

“I’ll just have to take my proposal to Niindento,” Shinichi sighed.

“Niindento?” Takahashi repeated, blinking in surprise. Then a dark look flickered over his features before he composed himself again. “Oh, sure. Go ahead. Niindento is a great company. I don’t think they can help you, but…”

“Oh sure they can,” Shinichi said, letting the tiniest hint of a smirk play on his lips. “They have a reputation for long-term investments. They’re innovators in the gaming industry. Yeah, it probably is a better fit.”

Takahashi scowled for a moment.

“I know… I am aware that you are manipulating me, Kang-san.”

“Well I should hope so,” Shinichi said, his shark grin back. “Think about it, though. I’m offering you quite the opportunity here. Hundreds of millions of yen in new patents. A lot of good press. All at your door. Together our companies could revolutionize the gaming industry. We know tech and you know games. What do you say?”

Takahashi’s scowl disappeared, replaced with a look of contemplation.

“All right. I’ll take the meeting,” he said, going to shake Shinichi’s hand again, but Shinichi ignored it and walked past him.

“I’ll have my office contact you,” Shinichi said as he walked away.

“What? Uh, yeah. Yes,” Takahashi nodded, watching Shinichi.

“Day after tomorrow?” Shinichi called over his shoulder, not looking back.

“Uh, Yes! Looking forward to doing business… with… you…” Takahashi trailed off as Shinichi disappeared among the other pedestrians.

“ _Good job, Kudo_ ,” Saguru said, making Shinichi grin. That had been fun. And this was only the beginning.

 

LOCATION: Shiho’s Loft

The next evening Shiho was on her computer looking through the files that Kid had copied off of Takahashi’s hard drive the previous day while Heiji was playing a game of pool in the back space of the main room near the windows. Her loft’s open floor plan meant that her computer room, living room, and kitchenette were all visible and made up one huge and open space. She didn’t play billiards herself, but the table, balls, and cues were expensive and high quality so she’d bought the set just for the heck of it and to fill in some of her apartment’s empty space.

“Hakuba-san, I got all of Takahashi’s financials and passwords off his hard drive,” she reported when the leader-man was passing her.

“Good,” Saguru nodded, taking a look at the screen. He smiled and patted her on the shoulder. “Great job.”

Shiho smiled to herself when he left to rejoin Heiji at the pool table. It was nice to hear that someone appreciated what she did. It didn’t hurt that Heiji had been trying to avoid her all day after the scolding and lecture she’d given him when he’d returned from Microtech with Kid. Speaking of Kid, though, where was that bastard? Shinichi was in the kitchen fiddling with one of her earpieces, Heiji and Saguru were playing pool, but Kid wasn’t anywhere to be seen. He’d better not be going through her wardrobe again.

“Your shot,” Heiji said, offering Saguru an Asahi beer.

“No thanks,” Hakuba said, picking up a pool cue and lined up his shot. “Five corner.”

“Ya know, you look better than ya did when we started,” Heiji commented, watching Saguru sink his shot flawlessly. Damn. Guy was good.

“Yeah?” Saguru said absently, lining up another shot.

“Yeah,” Heiji nodded. “And that bothers ya, huh?”

Kid slipped into the room from wherever he’d been hiding, sitting himself on the back of the couch to watch the pool game and conversation, ignoring the glare Shiho sent him but even she had stopped typing to listen in.

Saguru missed his shot, not expecting the topic in conversation. “I, uh, well… This… isn’t suppose to feel…” Saguru stammered, looking away.

“Good? It’s not that hard ta figure out,” Heiji said. “Takahashi screwed ya. He cheated by stealin’ from that other company and yer good guy brain sees ‘im as tha bad guy. Yer conscience is clear.”

Saguru’s expression shut down. He did not like hearing that he was easy to figure out. Especially from Heiji Hattori. The man didn’t know him. None of them did. “Your turn. You want to take your shot?”

“Listen,” Heiji sighed. “I’m sorry about yer kid.”

“You don’t know anything about that,” Saguru said stiffly.

“Everybody knows,” Heiji told him, glancing over at Kid and Shiho before addressing Saguru again. “When a guy like you goes off tha street, a lotta people notice. And it was a bad story too. How did they justify that, huh? Yer insurance company refusing ta pay fer yer daughter’s treatment? She was really sick, right?”

Saguru swallowed, images from those long horrible months flashing through his mind of his daughter slowly wasting away in her hospital bed until she finally passed away.

“Yeah. She had a rare form of Leukemia. The doctors did everything they could. Had even recommended this new treatment that may have saved her… But U.N.I.S. claimed that it was experimental.”

They all watched as grief and sadness played out over the former insurance investigator’s face, seeing for the first time just how broken the man they considered to be one of their greatest adversaries had become.

“Ya know, ya should have kept one of those Monets ya found,” Heiji said after a long moment of silence. “Ya fence one ‘a those-”

“Hattori,” Saguru said sharply, cutting the other off. “You and I are not friends.”

“Right,” Heiji said, blinking in surprise at Saguru’s harsh tone. “Right… Because ya have _so_ many of ‘em.” Then he noticed Shinichi heading their way. “Incomin’.”

Heiji walked away to join Kid over by the couch to turn the TV on or something.

“Too soon, moron,” Shiho said softly as he passed her. “It hasn’t even been a full year yet. The wound is still fresh. And that comment about fencing stolen artwork? What did you expect his reaction to be? He’s not a thief like we are.”

“Not yet,” Heiji mused. “But he’s well on ‘is way ta being one a’ us.”

“Hey,” Shinichi said as he approached Saguru. “Can you help me with this earpiece? It’s more high-tech than I’m used to and I can’t put it in right. It keeps falling out.”

“Why don’t you ask Miyano-san? She made it,” Saguru sighed, not in the mood to really talk with anyone at the moment.

“Are you kidding?” Shinichi asked, glancing apprehensively at the computer genius. She was currently chewing Heiji and Kid out for something again. “The woman makes angry grizzly bears look like Winnie the Pooh.”

Saguru let out a breathy chuckle, watching with amusement as their lone female companion chased Kid out of the room, yelling something about respecting one’s personal space and underwear drawer.

“Give it here,” he said finally, taking the earpiece from Shinichi and showed him the right way to slide it into place in the ear.

“Thanks,” Shinichi smiled. “It feels good working with you again, Saguru. I miss those days at U.N.I.S.”

“Liar,” Saguru huffed. “You hated working for U.N.I.S. Especially when it came to all the paperwork involved.”

Shinichi sighed. “I meant our partnership, and you know it. We were a great team.”

“Yeah,” Saguru said softly. “But that’s the key word, isn’t it, Shinichi? We _were_ a good team.”

“Still are, if this afternoon was any indication. Though, I think I like this current team roster even better than any of the teams we had with U.N.I.S.,” Shinichi shrugged. “They’re an interesting bunch.”

“Of course you like this team better,” Saguru scoffed. “They’re all thieves, like yourself.”

“That’s not the real issue here, though, is it? You’re allowed to enjoy yourself, you know,” Shinichi said softly. “Just because we’re thieves, and we’re running a game on Takahashi, doesn’t mean that what we’re doing is wrong. This guy is clearly corrupt and tried to have you all killed. And who’s to say that he hasn’t done something like this before in the past to someone else? This isn’t just about getting revenge, is it? Not for you at least. It’s about justice and making sure that this bastard gets what he has coming to him.”

Saguru was quiet and didn’t speak.

“If you’re enjoying this, it’s not a crime, Saguru,” Shinichi continued. “It’s not a bad thing. Putting people like him away and in their place is what you do best. It’s what you do. It’s what you’ve always done. If you need a reason, think of what we’re doing as… picking up where the law leaves off. No one knows what he’s doing, but we do. And isn’t it our civic duty to stop him?”

Without another word, Shinichi left his old friend to his thoughts, hoping that his words – or at least some of them – had reached him.


	4. Caught

LOCATION: Outside a Tokyo Office Building

Saguru was sitting with Shiho at an outside table at a café across the street from where they could see Takahashi’s car pull up in front of the building Ye-jun Kang was supposed to have an office space.

“Kudo, he’s on-site,” Saguru reported.

“ _What?!_ ” Shinichi cried. “ _No, I’m not ready._ ”

“Well, if you don’t meet him right now in the lobby he’s going to go to the building directory and look for the office number. Guys, we are not in the building directory,” Saguru told them.

“ _And why aren’t we in tha directory?_ ” Heiji’s voice growled.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Shiho said smoothly. “Maybe because they’re _fake_ offices.”

“ _There’s no elevator_ ,” Shinichi said, voice shaking a little in frustration.

Saguru sighed, getting to his feet. “All right, I’ll cause a distraction. Kid, you have ten seconds to get Kudo to the lobby.”

 

LOCATION: Office Building – Tenth Floor

Kid stuck his head out from the stairwell’s door. “Kudo!”

Shinichi stopped pacing in front of the elevators and hurried over. “What’s going on?”

“Put this on,” Kid ordered, throwing him a harness.

“What’s it for?” Shinichi frowned.

“Speed,” Kid grinned, yanking Shinichi inside the stairwell just as Heiji slipped past them with a sign tucked under his arm, hurrying to install it.

 

LOCATION: Outside Office Building

Saguru slipped his retractable baton out from his coat. He normally kept it on him for self-defense reasons and was glad that he’d thought to bring it with him. He looked around, making sure that no one was paying any attention to him before he strode past a line of cars parked in front of the office building, smashing a window in one of them as he passed. The car’s alarm went off.

“ _He stopped, but isn’t coming to check things out_ ,” Shiho informed him from her vantage point at the café.

Saguru gritted his teeth and quickly broke a few more windows, setting off more alarms to attracting more attention.

“ _Good, he’s stopped_ ,” Shiho reported.

With a sigh of relief, Saguru slipped out of sight and doubled back to rejoin Shiho at their café table.

 

LOCATION: Office Building – Stairwell

Kid had just finished hooking up the harness holding him and Kudo to the repel line. Shinichi nervously looked over the railing and saw the long drop just before Kid told him to stand up on the rail and over they went. Shinichi gasped, clinging to Kid as they descended rapidly, before slowing and hitting the ground. Shinichi’s knees nearly buckled under the force and momentum in spite of the decrease in speed past the last couple of floors.

Shinichi trembled slightly as Kid unhooked and waved him off. He gave himself a shake and hurried out into the lobby where he spotted Takahashi looking at the directory display, trying to find K.C.E Inc.’s office.

“Takahashi-san!” he cried, diverting the man’s attention from the search screen. “Our offices are on the tenth floor.”

“I see,” the man nodded, coming over to join him. “You, ah, are you alright?”

“Fine!” Shinichi said, plastering on a wide smile. “Just… excited. Come this way.”

When they entered the elevator, Shinichi had finally regained his composure.

“One, thing, Takahashi-san,” he said. “The gentleman bringing you this opportunity to work with our company, they’ll expect some compensation. Not a bribe of course, you understand.”

“A finder’s fee of sorts,” Takahashi mused.

“Exactly,” Kudo smiled.

“I thought your job was to eliminate graft and stealing?”

“No. My job is to keep it manageable.”

Takahashi chuckled.

When they reached the tenth floor, the sign that Heiji had just finished putting up moments ago greeted them. It read: “Korean Consumer Electronics Incorporated. Ye-jun Kang, Director” in Japanese, English and Korean.

Shinichi lead Takahashi into the office’s main meeting room that was filled with Korean programmers, businessmen executives and officials.

“Good afternoon, Takahashi-san. We are honored by your presence,” one of the men said.

“No, no. The honor is all mine. Getting on the ground floor of something like this is a wonderful opportunity,” Takahashi said, bowing.

 

LOCATION: Outside Office Building

Kid had a little skip in his step and couldn’t help grinning as he joined Saguru and Shiho at their café table. He slipped the bag containing his equipment underneath his seat.

“Nice job on the zip line,” Saguru told him.

“Totally thought he was going to break a leg,” Kid grinned, propping his feet up on the table. “Not bad for a first time.”

Saguru and Shiho exchanged a glance. Poor Shinichi. It couldn’t have been helped though. That was why Kid was there in the first place. He had been a last resort in case the elevators had been occupied. It was a good thing that Saguru thought ahead and had contingency plans. That, and it gave Kid something to do besides bother Heiji when the other was trying to get the offices spruced up and official looking.

“ _So what do you think?_ ” Takahashi’s voice asked over the comm.

“He’s closing it up,” Saguru said, listening as the meeting came to an end.

 

LOCATION: Office Building – Tenth Floor

“Yes, absolutely,” the head Korean Businessman, Woo-jin Hwang, told Takahashi. “We can definitely repurpose those facilities.”

“Great,” Takahashi said.

“I believe we will be able to do a lot of business together, Takahashi-san.”

Takahashi nodded, feeling good about this deal. It felt promising… almost too promising.

“About the… other matter,” Kang spoke up, looking from Takahashi to Hwang.

“Of course,” Hwang nodded, taking out an envelope.

Kang rose from his seat, took the envelope from Hwang and brought it to Takahashi. Takahashi opened it under the table and read the paper inside: ¥100,000,000.

“Is that agreeable?” Kang asked.

It was a lot of money. But the deal was good. He’d make a fortune with this venture. But it was almost too good to be true. Something wasn’t right about all of this. Something wasn’t adding up.

“Oh,” he said, slipping the envelope into his suit jacked. “I think we can work something out.”

“Excellent!” Kang said, clapping his hands together happily.

Takahashi shook hands with the men there, grinning and bowing. Oh, he was going to work something out all right. It was time that he looked into his new business partners more thoroughly than just a simple quick Internet search.

 

LOCATION: Outside Office Building

Shinichi watched with satisfaction as Takahashi got into his company car and drove away.

“We got him?”

Shinichi looked behind him and saw Saguru and the others.

“We own him,” Shinichi smirked.

“Okay you lot, let’s go,” Saguru sighed. “We have a busy day tomorrow.”

“This _is_ going to work, right?” Heiji asked.

“I guarantee it,” Saguru said, sharing a smirk with Shinichi.

 

Later that night…

LOCATION: Takahashi’s Office

Takahashi was absolutely livid as he dragged his assistant and head programmer, Ranma Saotome, into his office with him.

“This is insane,” Saotome was saying. “We are risking everything with this venture. We already took a chance hiring those-”

“Shh!” Takahashi hissed, motioning for the younger man to be quiet before pulling him down to look under his desk where there was a tiny device with a blinking red light. When he was sure that Saotome had seen the bug, they walked back out of the inner office and over to his secretary’s desk. Miss Higurashi had already gone home for the night.

“What was that?” Saotome asked.

“It’s a transmitter,” Takahashi said, pursing his lips. “They’ve been listening to everything I’ve been saying.”

“Who are “they”?”

“Who do you think?” Takahashi hissed, pulling out a picture of “Ye-Jun Kang” and Saguru Hakuba talking to each other. “Also, I’ve checked. There’s no office for the Korean Consumer Electronics Incorporated company anywhere in the city. K.C.E. Inc. doesn’t even exist. They’ve been hustling me and I know exactly what they are doing. Tomorrow, it stops. Get the Tokyo Metropolitan Police on the phone.”

“Yes, sir,” Saotome said, hurrying to do just that.

 

The Next Morning…

LOCATION: Microtech Offices

The final preparations for the shareholders meeting were in full swing. The catering company had arrived and was setting up tables for the event in the office’s party room. Takahashi was satisfied with how things were progressing and he was ready for “Kang” and his “Korean businessmen.” He felt pretty good, actually. Saotome, however, was still anxious.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Yes. They’re pissed. I get that,” Takahashi chuckled. “They want to make me pay. I mean, an opportunity like this, the same week as the shareholder’s meeting. The bug, the fake offices, cash bribes, _Koreans_ for goodness sake! Koreans! Who the hell do they think I am? Some dog they can just lead around? They’re going to find out _exactly_ how wrong they are.”

The rest of Takahashi’s morning went well. His team presented a modified version of the stolen project to his shareholders and they ate it up. Takahashi was on top of the world, shaking hands and being congratulated by top executives in the company, some of which had taken time out of their busy schedules to fly in from America for the presentation. Even Evan Mayson, CEO of Microtech was present.

“All I know is, today is a good day for you,” one of Takahashi’s biggest supporters on the board of directors said to him after the presentations were over and the catered lunch was well under way.

“It’s a good day for all of us. Stock’s gone up fifteen points since the announcement,” Takahashi announced.

“Really? I’ll pass the news around.”

“You do that.” Takahashi took a sip of a glass of champagne as he watched everyone mill about enjoying the food and drinks.

“Well, aren’t you the cat that ate the canary?”

Takahashi turned around and there was Kang, with his team of businessmen standing a little ways back around their own table.

“Does it show?” Takahashi asked.

“You have a horrible poker-face.”

“Guilty,” Takahashi smiled. “Why don’t we get this done?”

“Now?” Kang asked, surprised. Ha. Not expecting that, were they? He had them.

“Yeah.” Takahashi was ready to expose and end this ruse.

“You have the whole payment?” Kang asked.

“Absolutely. I think we should make the deal. I want to make the announcement, get even bigger headlines. I’ll take them into a conference room away from all this. Go, lets do it.”

“I’ll be right back,” Kang said, hurrying off and started talking with the “Koreans.”

“Yes,” Takahashi muttered to himself. “Lets get this over with.”

When Kang returned, Takahashi lead them inside to one of Microtech’s larger conference rooms.

“Gentlemen! Now everybody come in and relax. Make yourselves comfortable.”

As the businessmen took their seats, their leader, Woo-jin Hwang, addressed Takahashi.

“I assume we all understand the terms of this agreement.”

“Well I’ll tell you, the exact _terms_ of this agreement, are these,” Takahashi said as he hit a button on the conference phone set and several officers from the Metropolitan Police Department entered the room.

“Metropolitan Police, don’t move,” an officer said.

“Are you all right?” the lead officer asked.

“Gentlemen.” Takahashi nodded with a smile, crossing his arms, and waited for the officers to arrest the men in front of him. “Everything is perfectly…” He trailed off when two of the officers grabbed his arms and proceeded to arrest _him_. “Wait. What are you…? Wait a minute, let go of me! What are you looking at me for? The criminals are sitting right over there, look at them,” he said, gesturing to the men sitting at his conference table. “Listen, I spoke with Ningyo Yuta-keibu. If you call him on the phone-”

“I’m Ningyo-keibu,” the officer said, holding up his badge and credentials. “Takahashi Toubi-san, you are under arrest for soliciting a bribe from these Korean officials,” the lead officer said.

“I’m not… I’m not soliciting- these aren’t even real Koreans,” Takahashi protested.

“Of course we are,” Hwang frowned, pulling out his passport. The rest of his men did the same. They were representatives of a legitimate fledgling electronics company looking to expand their marketing and business.

“What? No, no…”

“Your man knew that when he contacted us last week,” Hwang said.

“ _My_ … man? Kang?” Takahashi looked up, dread creeping into his veins when he realized that Kang was nowhere in the room. “Kang!” Oh shit. It had been a set up. “Um, Ningyo-keibu, Kang Ye-jun works for them.”

“Ridiculous,” said Hwang. “He contacted us on your behalf. He told us he worked directly under you.”

“But… b-but he took me… He took me to their office,” Takahashi spluttered.

“No,” Hwang shook his head. “We do not have an office in this city.”

“Exactly!” Takahashi said, pointing at the man. “Korean Consumer Electronics Incorporated doesn’t.”

“Korean…? We have never heard of such a company.”

“Exactly! Exactly!” Takahashi crowed, relieved.

“We met him at your other office.”

“My…? What?”

 

_FLASHBACK_

Heiji hurried away before the elevator doors opened. The sign he’d just put up said: Microtech. Head Executive: Takahashi Toubi. Assistant Head of Production: Kang Ye-jun.

Shinichi smiled, bowing before shaking hands with Hwang as they met just outside the office door. “I am Ye-jun Kang from Microtech, directly under Toubi Takahashi,” he said in Korean. “Welcome. Why don’t you head inside? Mr. Takahashi should be here soon and we can start.”

Hwang nodded and headed into the office’s meeting room. Shinichi shook hands and waved the other men inside the office.

“ _Kudo, he’s on-site,_ ” Saguru reported just after the last man entered.

“What?!”

 

_PRESENT_

Takahashi paled, realizing just how screwed he was when he saw more officers file past the conference room.

“The shareholders!” he gasped. “The board members!”

Takahashi ran from the room back to the party where the shareholders, board members, and executives where mingling and enjoying their lunch. Police sirens could be heard from outside as more members of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrived and began to search the building and stop people from leaving. The guests stared, murmuring to themselves, wondering what was going on.

“No, no, no,” Takahashi moaned before speaking up. Maybe he could still salvage this. “Uh, everybody, could I have your attention? It’s just- it’s just a permit problem.”

“Takahashi-san? What’s going on?” Evan Mayson asked.

“Mayson-san! I can explain,” Takahashi stammered. Oh he was so fired.

“Anybody else here involved in the bribe?” Ningyo-keibu demanded as he entered the room after Takahashi.

“Bribe?” Mayson asked, narrowing his eyes.

“T-There’s no bribe,” Takahashi protested.

“I handed this man an envelope containing a cashier’s check for ¥20,000,000,” Hwang said angrily to the police.

“No, no, no,” Takahashi said, shaking his head in denial. “Nobody… I wasn’t handed any… I didn’t… nobody handed…”

 

_FLASHBACK_

“About the… other matter,” Shinichi spoke up, looking from Takahashi to Hwang.

“Of course,” Hwang nodded, taking out an envelope from his suit jacket.

Shinichi took the envelope with Hwang ’s check and switched it with one that had been prepared before the meeting and handed that one to Takahashi while he pocketed the one with the check.

 

_PRESENT_

“This will look a lot better for you if you did not deposit that check. Do you still have it?” Ningyo-keibu asked.

“I didn’t get a check!” Takahashi protested.

“Sir, we have people searching the lab, seizing the files and computers,” announced an officer to Inspector Ningyo.

“Good job,” Ningyo said.

“What? No! Ningyo-keibu! You can’t do that! You can’t take my computer.”

“This company is American and only allowed to have a headquarters based here because our Japanese government allows it. There are very serious rules regarding contact and negotiation with foreign executives outside of legal corporate channels while here in Japan. Your American Patriot Act applies here, sir. I can take whatever I want if I have reason to, and what do you know? I do. But if it means so much, I can just asked your CEO. Mayson-san, do you mind if I search the premise to clear up this matter?”

“…Of course not,” the American replied. What else could he say? This whole thing was becoming one big mess. If there was illegal activity going on in one of his foreign offices he wanted to know about it. Scandals like this didn’t go over well if they were made public – which this was with the news crews present – and it would look even worse if Mayson refused to let the police investigate.

“Okay, that’s getting a little aggressive. I’m sorry,” Takahashi said, trying to save face. “Hwang-san, this is Mayson Evan-san. Sir, these gentlemen are from Korea. Everybody just take it easy, relax, and I’ll be back in a bit and explain everything.”

“Takahashi-san, where are you going?” Mayson demanded. “Takahashi-san!”

Over the next few hours, officers from the TMP went in and out of Microtech’s office confiscating computers and paperwork. Takahashi and his team were tracked down and contained in separate offices under watch after the team had been caught shredding documents and trying to get rid of the evidence relating to the stolen Niindento game console plans.

 

LOCATION: Unfinished Office

Rumiko Doumine stood waiting by the window in an empty office in the building across the street from Niindento HQ that was in the middle of being renovated when Saguru approached her. It was ironically the same room that Saguru had run the opp. to steal the game console plans from Niindento at the beginning of this whole mess.

“I came alone,” she said.

“Yes, I know,” Saguru nodded. “Thank you, Doumine-san. Now I understand that your research was completely wiped out. I have complete copies right here on these hard drives along with absolute proof that they were on Microtech computers. That should be good for a couple of lawsuits, right?”

“I’ll drop the investigation on all parties involved with the original theft,” Doumine promised.

“That seems fair,” Saguru shrugged. “You get your property back.”

“Agreed. No charges. Nothing on you, or your people.”

Saguru nodded, handing the hard drive over to the businesswoman and walked away.

“Don’t you want money?” she asked.

“This particular project has a different revenue stream,” Saguru told her, never looking back as he exited the room and the building to meet up with the others.

 

LOCATION: Takahashi’s Office

Police officers were still looking through everything he and his team had ever worked on by late afternoon while Takahashi watched the news.

“ _In a massive sell-off sparked by multiple investigations on Microtech’s offices in Japan, the stock has plummeted thirty-three percent before trading was halted_ ,” a reporter was saying on screen.

While Takahashi’s mind whirled wondering how things had gone so terribly wrong, his phone rang. He didn’t feel like talking to anyone, but the call could have been important so he answered before it could go to voice mail.

“Yes?”

“ _You should have just paid us._ ”

Takahashi stiffened, sitting up in his chair. He knew that voice. Saguru Hakuba.

“You! But I found the transmitter,” he spluttered.

“ _Oh, you found the transmitter with the blinking light, yeah. We wanted you to figure some of it out. Then we just gave you what you were expecting._ ”

“I am Takahashi Toubi,” Takahashi said angrily. “I am going to beat this.”

“ _Aren’t you forgetting about the bribe_?”

“Who cares? You can’t prove anything. I didn’t get any money,” Takahashi said, but that was when an officer opened the safe behind his desk and said “Bingo,” as he took out stacks of cash. Takahashi stared at the sight in bewilderment. That hadn’t been there before. “…How?”

“ _Now, it doesn’t account for all of it. Kudo kept a little to buy a truly impressive number of mystery novels_. _You see, if a company’s stock price falls ten, fifteen percent in one day and you see it coming, you sell short and make a lot of money. If it’s going to fall thirty percent you can make_ shattering _amounts of money. We didn’t need the police to show up and take you to jail. We just needed them to show up and take boxes out of your office, all day long in front of TV cameras and news reporters, scaring your investors and American bosses. You going to jail is just a bonus. I wouldn’t say anything to the police about us, by the way. Next time we won’t be so nice._ ”

The line clicked, signaling that he’d been hung up on and Takahashi stared helplessly at the TV where the news anchor was still talking about how much trouble his branch of the company was in. Being fired was the least of his worries.

“Who was that?” the officer in charge of watching him asked.

“Nobody,” Takahashi sighed.

 

LOCATION: A Park in Central Tokyo

Shiho was handing everyone an envelope enclosed with a check. They all gasped and stared at the millions, almost trillions, of yen written out to them.

“Wha..? Oh my,” Shinichi cried, hand flying up to his chest as if he might have a heart attack.

“Job well- whoa!” Saguru breathed when he accepted and saw the amount printed on his check.

“There was an overlap in the London stock market,” Shiho said smugly. “Valuation carried over to NASDAQ and… I’m just very good at what I do.”

“This… is the score,” Kid said in awe. “ _The_ score.”

“Somebody kiss this woman so I don’t have ta,” Heiji grinned.

“Don’t you dare,” Shiho glared when Kid made a move to do just that. “So… I guess this means we’re out. This is retirement money. This is… go legit and buy an island money.”

“Yeah…” Saguru nodded, shaking himself out of his surprise. “Pleasure working with you all.”

“Yeah,” Heiji nodded, looking away. “No encores… right?”

“I… already forgot your names,” Kid said in a weak parody of what was said back when they’d stolen the plans a couple weeks ago from Niindento.

Shinichi smiled sadly at them all, before looking to Saguru. Saguru glanced that them all one last time, cleared his throat, and walked away. The rest of the gang followed his example, all of them heading off in different directions. Saguru hadn’t gotten far, however, when Kid came back and caught up to him.

“You, know, I’ve never had that cool a time on a job,” the thief rambled.

“It’s a walk-away, Kid,” Saguru sighed.

“Yeah, well… I have focus issues, and you kept me right on track,” Kid said.

“Kid, you hardly ever listen to anyone,” Saguru was saying when Shiho suddenly appeared on his other side.

“You know,” she said, “I’m really good at one thing-”

“Miyano-san,” Saguru sighed.

“-only one thing, that’s it, but you, you know other things and-and I can’t just stop going my one thing, can’t retire…”

“Ya know what I think?” came Heiji’s voice from behind them all.

“Not really,” Saguru groaned.

“How long 'til ya fall apart again?” Heiji asked.

“Oh, I’m touched,” Saguru said sarcastically.

“Well, a guy like you can’t be out of tha game. That’s why ya were a wreck. Ya need tha chase,” Heiji said pointedly and damn him if he wasn’t right about that.

“Yeah, well, I’ll manage,” Saguru said, trying to shake them off his tail when his phone rang. “Yeah?”

There was no answer, but there didn’t have to be. Saguru groaned as he looked ahead on the path he’d taken out of the park and saw Shinichi sitting on a nearby bench, his phone open in hand. The line on Saguru’s clicked off when Shinichi hung up. Saguru sighed, putting his phone away as the grifter got up and joined them.

“You pick the jobs,” Shinichi told him.

“My job is helping people. I help find bad guys,” was Saguru’s protest.

“So go find some bad guys. Bad guys have money.”

Saguru gave his old friend and long-standing rival a hard look.

“Listen you guys, I’m not even staying in Japan. I still technically live in London and have a timeshare in New York and a few other places in America and Europe. I travel a lot.”

“Oh! The Big Apple! Japan was getting boring anyway,” Kid squealed with glee. “Road trip!”

“I travel where the jobs are anyway,” Heiji shrugged.

“I’ve never left Japan,” Shiho stated. “Never even left the greater Tokyo area as a matter of fact. This would be a great opportunity to get out and see the world.”

“See? We’re all in,” Shinichi said. “If you’ll have us. What do you say, Hakuba? White Horse… White Knight… Will you be our Black King?”

 

One month later…

LOCATION: Residential Home in London

An older couple was sitting on a couch in their living room. The woman was crying.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, as her husband wrapped his arm around her.

“Please, take your time,” Shinichi said, reaching out and resting a hand over hers.

“She-she was seventeen,” the woman sobbed.

“I know,” Shinichi said soothingly.

“They killed her,” the woman cried angrily. “They said it was an accident, but that company killed her. I want them hurt!”

“W-we can’t pay you,” her husband said, looking nervous, staring at the men and woman sitting in his living room dressed in suits. There was nothing about them that said government, but they definitely looked professional.

“We work on an alternative revenue stream,” Shinichi told them.

“I don’t understand,” the man admitted, looking confused. “The judge said that we couldn’t appeal. What are _you_ going to do?”

“People like that,” Saguru spoke up, “corporations like that, they have all the money, they have all the power, and they use it to make people like you go away. Right now you are suffering under an enormous weight. We provide… Leverage.”

The Gamer Job - End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that was The Gamer Job! So what did you guys think? 
> 
> I love both the Detective Conan and Magic Kaitou series, and Leverage is one of my favorite TV shows of all time. After watching a marathon of Leverage episodes with my dad when we discovered that the show had been added to Netflix Instant, I got to wondering what the show would be like if it stared the Gosho Boys. I spent a good while pondering who would fit what role. The only real obvious choice for me was Heiji Hattori as the Hitter, Eliot Spenser's role. Kid/Kaito was another no-brainer to take the place of Parker's Thief, but Kid would have also made a good Grifter with of his talent for disguises. But because everyone on the show gets to play grifter roles on most jobs, I decided that Kid would be the Thief. That left the Hacker, Mastermind, and Grifter positions open. For a while I thought about having Kid serve a duel role combining the Thief and Grifter positions, and put Hakuba in the Hacker role and cast Shinichi as the Mastermind. 
> 
> But then I got this brilliant idea when I came across this post for Gosho's 5 teen geniuses, which included Shiho Miyano with the four Gosho boys. I loved the idea of including her, so I cast Shiho Miyano in the role of the Hacker. Considering her role as a scientist in Detective Conan, I thought casting her as a computer genius made sense. That left me with Hakuba and Shinichi to battle it out for the last two main positions. For a long time I thought I would cast Shinichi as the Mastermind because he is the main character of DC. But then I really got to thinking about Nate Ford's character and not just his position on team and the show as the Mastermind. 
> 
> Now while both Shinichi and Saguru are detectives in DCMK canon, and strive to find the truth behind criminal motives and seek justice for those who have been wronged, my reason for casting Shinichi as the Grifter, has a lot to do with all of the lying and pretending Shinichi does in DC as Conan. If you think about it, it makes great sense to cast Shinichi as the Grifter considering the fact that his mother is an actress and that he's sure to have learned a lot from her. Shinichi is very cunning and manipulative, perfect for the role of a Grifter. 
> 
> And as for why I cast Hakuba as the leader/Mastermind, it was NOT just because he's my favorite Gosho Boy. In the Leverage Show, Nate Ford is often referred to as a White Knight turned Black King. Hakuba means White Horse in Japanese. A horse head represents the knight piece in chess. So ergo in my mind, white horse = white knight = honest man-Nathan Ford character parallel. Also, Hakuba is often ragged on for being so straight-laced and by the book by Kid fans, so it made sense to me for Hakuba to be the honest man turned criminal Mastermind.
> 
> So did you like this? Should I continue and write another one of these? I hope you all enjoyed reading this and all the little "Easter Eggs" I scattered throughout the story. Did you catch them all? See if you did!
> 
> Easter Eggs:  
> 1\. The Blue Parrot Bar – The bar Saguru is drinking in at the beginning of chapter 1, is a reference to the Blue Parrot billiards parlor owned by Konosuke Jii in Magic Kaitou.  
> 2\. Keiko Momoi – (chapter 1) is a friend and classmate of Aoko Nakamori, Kaito Kuroba and Saguru Hakuba in the Magic Kaito series. In this story she was one of the friends he was visiting in Japan.  
> 3\. Niindento – Nintendo.  
> 4\. Microtech – Microsoft.  
> 5\. “Kid dived off the roof, unable to resist a “Ya Hoo!” as he jumped,” – (chapter 1) Kid’s little “Ya Hoo!” was a reference to Nintendo’s Mario character.  
> 6\. Toyama-keibu – (chapter 2) The alias that Heiji uses on the phone at the hospital is reference to Kazuha Toyama and her father who is a high-ranking cop in Detective Conan.  
> 7\. Tokyo Spirits – (chapter 3) A soccer/football team in Detective Conan that Shinichi Kudo follows.  
> 8\. Chapter 3 gaming console mentions: H-Box – X-box; Saga – Sega; GameStation – PlayStation; Vii – Wii; Dance-Dance – Dance-Dance-Revolution (DDR); Band Hero – Guitar Hero  
> 9\. Stardollar – Starbucks Coffee  
> 10\. Rumiko Takahashi references – Toubi Takahashi and Rumiko Doumine’s names; Kagome Higurashi – a main character from InuYasha; Ranma Saotome – main title character from Ranma ½; Yuta Ningyo – a reference to Rumiko Takahashi’s Mermaid (Ningyo) Saga, who’s main character was an immortal man called Yuta.  
> 11\. Super Saiyan and Kaio-ken – (chapter 3) Dragon Ball Z references


End file.
